Cross country skiing Depot Rd/Clark's Pond trails

Beautiful day on Saturday skiing in Auburn. Not as cold as last weekend so we really enjoyed being out in the woods.

Some people take the easy way through the woods (snowmobile). We like the exercise on the skis.

Lots of animal tracks, mostly dogs, but some deer and moose in places too.

We didn't go on this side - this is where all the noisy snowmobilers go. The abandoned railroad bed is a great snowmobile trail for them. It goes for many miles between towns.

What is poetry good for?

“To remind people of their own humanity.” Student answer

“That struck me as so sensible, so moving, so poignant . . . You know, I’m mortal, I exist, I have my own conscience, I have my own being, myself. Here I am with this universe. Maybe there’s a God; maybe there’s no God. This is my predicament, my human predicament. Poetry reminds readers of that.”

Charles Simic (American poet laureate consultant, 2007-2008) as quoted in: The Poets Laureate Anthology, Edited by E. H. Schmidt, copyright 2010, ISBN 978-0-393-06181-9

I don't have time for creating my own poetry and art at this time of year as my business is keeping me very busy, but I am enjoying reading a few poems every night. This is a library book that I took out and I've already renewed it once, so I doubt that I'll get to the end before it goes back, but it is interesting.

Untitled (old poem from 1980's)

 

Yesterday you took me on skis

through the swirling snow

winter's white beauty

surrounding us

mountains shrouded by fog

the dusk settling

over the frozen lake

the sense of God all around

filled me with wonder.

On the way home

we talked about Frost

and recited his lines

as the truck barely climbed

the snow slicked hill

the road threading its way

through snow frosted pines.

Back home to my warm room

your arms invited me

your legs entwined me

your lips lingered

the unasked question hanging ...

In the morning I awoke

to watch you

sleeping peacefully beside me

your eyes opened slowly

and I snuggled my head

on your shoulder

to hug you tenderly

all passion spent

and wonder if you would

come back again . . .

An old love poem from my earlier collection. This was written in the 1980's before I met my second husband. A beautiful image of a short romance with an older man who had been my friend. That was the first time I had ever tried cross country skis.
 

ã1990 Linda H. Feinberg from "red poppies and green clover"

Cross country skiing

Winter fun in New Hampshire. Photos taken Jan. 14, 2011 in Auburn, NH. Trail was quiet on Friday afternoon, only had one snowmobile pass us. This is usually a very busy trail on weekends. The sign on the tree says "CAUTION, WATCH FOR SLED DOGS ON TRAIL".

The protocol is to let everyone else go by so we step to the side when we hear motors or dogs. It felt wonderful to be out in the crisp, cold air, moving these old bones. Joe is 69 and I will be 65 in the spring, but we are still moving! Very happy about that.

We had about 18" (47 cm?) of snow this week. Loved it. Of course, I don't have to drive in it so that makes my life easier. It was in the 20's yesterday, not too cold, but comfortable for this kind of skiing (that's below zero centigrade, but I don't remember the conversion tables any more.) I added that since I notice that some of my followers are not used to the silly American system of measuring. I wish we would go along with the rest of the world and go metric, but that is unlikely to happen in my lifetime.

Water Tower sketch (vignette)

Just a sketch of the water tower from my photo earlier. I found I don't really enjoy doing man-made structures, so I will probably not make a painting from this one.

This was an experiment with my new watersoluble crayons. First time I have tried these. These are Caran D'Ache Neocolor II water-soluble wax pastels. Easy to use with just a bit of water on a brush. Also used Micron 05 ink pen for the base structure on Bristol smooth paper. Easy project for a sketch.

I think I'll try the crayons again on a watercolor paper. That would probably be a better choice, but I was just experimenting.

Autumn Blessing

I think this painting is finally finished. I started it in the fall during my acrylics class, but never had time to go back and finish it.  This is a mixed media piece. I tinted the paper with a tea wash* following some directions in one of my books. When dry I drew the image, then used watercolor, then acrylics on top, pen & ink for the writing. It is on Waterford 300 lb cold press paper.  I did the drawing from a photo I took in the fall while out on a walk in my neighborhood. I am so glad we have changing seasons in New Hampshire. I'm seeing a few snowflakes today and I hope we can go out cross country skiing this weekend.

*Tea wash: 3 black teabags in 1 cup of boiling water. Let cool. Use as a background color wash on watercolor or Chinese paper. This gives an antique type look to the artwork.

Water Tower - Manchester, NH

I don't usually do art on buildings or man-made structures, but I found the water tower struts very interesting. I liked the shapes. I may make a sketch or painting of it when I have time.

I'm looking forward to retirement, but I feel old today. I filed for Medicare to start in April. Time certainly flies when you're a busy person. 

Having fun with my new camera although I haven't found time to read the 180 page PDF guide. I will try to do a few more pages today and every day. I'm sticking with the easy features for now.

This tower is near the VA Hospital in Manchester. The photo was taken from a side street while we were out walking the other day.

Acrylic paintings done

I think these are finished now. I just have to varnish them. Acrylic paintings, 8" X 10" (20.3 cm X 25.4 cm) on canvas panels. I liked using the sponge with the sunset colors. That was more fun than a brush.

The top painting was from a photo taken in Caesaria, Israel (Roman ruins). Interesting sculptures there.

My new camera

Just bought a new camera and I'm learning how to use it. The guidebook is intimidating so I'm trying a few shots on my own. It is a Canon SX210 IS. The zoom feature (14X) is easy to use. The camera stores very large files (14.1) so I have to shrink them down on my computer before I upload them.

The photos are of work in process. I hope to eventually do a painting on canvas of the horses. The foot needs to be lightened up a little (it was from a photo taken in Caesaria, Israel), the sketch I posted earlier. The sunset painting is an experiment using a book by Donna Dewberry ("fast and fun landscape painting"), but I'm using my own photo, not hers. The sunset stripes are done with a sponge. The bottom part was done with a palette knife and I have no idea how to use it. Obviously, I'll need some more lessons. Anyway, it was fun to work on and I'll keep at it a bit more over the weekend.

Some outside photos taken just to try out the camera. These are from my yard, squirrel pawprints in the snow, some berries clinging to a bush and the view of my neighbor's house and fence (backyard).

Craigsville Beach, Cape Cod

Just a quick sketch of the Craigsville Beach. Pen & Ink, Micron pen 05; Strathmore Bristol vellum paper.